Moroccan Real Estate: Prices Up, Sales Down

Rabat - Real estate prices rose by 4.7 percent year-over-year, while sales declined by 22.1 percent, according to the latest report of Bank Al Maghrib (BAM) and the National Agency for Land Conservation, Cadastre and Cartography (ANCFCC).

Rabat – Real estate prices rose by 4.7 percent year-over-year, while sales declined by 22.1 percent, according to the latest report of Bank Al Maghrib (BAM) and the National Agency for Land Conservation, Cadastre and Cartography (ANCFCC).

In the third quarter of 2017, the real estate price index rose by 0.6 percent, covering a 1.3 percent increase for land, stagnation for apartments, and a decrease of 0.5 percent for commercial premises.

Meanwhile, the number of transactions fell 1.4 percent, reflecting declines of 2.4 percent for apartments and 3.3 percent for commercial property. On the other hand, land sales increased by 3.5 percent, says Bank Al-Maghrib in its last note on real estate assets in Q3 2017.

For residential property, apartment prices did not change, while those for villas rose by 2.8 percent and homes declined by 0.6 percent. Regarding transactions, after a rise of 6.4 percent in the second quarter of 2017, they decreased by 2.4 percent, resulting from a decline of 2.4 percent for apartments and 15.4 percent for villas, while home sales rose by 3.9 percent.

Land prices rose by 1.3 percent in the third quarter after falling 0.9 percent a quarter earlier. Transactions, meanwhile, rose by 3.5 percent after declining 4.5 percent. Year-over-year, prices were up 5.9 percent and the number of transactions was down 7.4 percent.

After a decline of 4.1 percent a quarter ago, the commercial goods price index fell again by 0.4 percent quarter-on-quarter, with a 0.5 percent decrease for commercial premises. As for transactions, their number fell by 3.3 percent, reflecting decreases of 18.9 percent in office sales and 0.6 percent in commercial premises.

On a year-over-year basis, real estate prices rose by 4.7 percent, with increases of 4 percent for residential property, 5.9 percent for land and 5.1 percent for commercial property. Transactions fell by 18.7 percent, reflecting declines for all asset classes, with rates of 21.9 percent for apartments, 7.4 percent for land, and 8.1 percent for commercial property.

With the exception of Meknes and Fez, where prices fell 1.2 percent and 0.4 percent respectively, the other major cities saw price increases. As for transactions, they fell in the main cities, especially in Rabat and Marrakech with rates of -32 percent and -14.1 percent respectively.

In Casablanca, after a drop of 0.2 percent in the second quarter, the price index rose by 0.1 percent, mainly due to a 0.3 percent rise in the price of apartments, while land prices fell by 2.5 percent. At the same time, the number of transactions decreased by 4.4 percent after increases of 5.7 percent and 6.3 percent in the first two quarters of the year.